Rep. Daniel J. Burke

Filed: 4/9/2008

 

 


 

 


 
09500HB2747ham002 LRB095 01002 RLC 49209 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2747

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2747 by replacing
3 the title with the following:
4     "AN ACT concerning corrections, which may be referred to as
5 the Access to Religious Ministry Act of 2008."; and
 
6 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
7 following:
 
8     "Section 5. The County Jail Act is amended by adding
9 Section 26 as follows:
 
10     (730 ILCS 125/26 new)
11     Sec. 26. Detainees in immigration custody; religious
12 worker access to jails.
13     (a) Any county jail in the State of Illinois for which an
14 intergovernmental agreement has been entered into with United
15 States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for detention

 

 

09500HB2747ham002 - 2 - LRB095 01002 RLC 49209 a

1 of immigration-related detainees shall be required to provide
2 to religious workers reasonable access to such jail.
3     (b) For purposes of this Section, "reasonable access" means
4 the ability of the religious worker to enter the jail facility
5 to be available to meet with immigration detainees who wish to
6 consult with the religious worker regarding their spiritual and
7 other needs. Such access shall be at times during the
8 facility's regular visitation hours and other hours as may be
9 appropriate, provided that such times shall be no less than
10 those provided to religious workers at facilities administered
11 by the Illinois Department of Corrections for detainees in
12 criminal custody. The facility shall provide advance notice to
13 the immigration detainees of the times during which religious
14 workers shall be available for consultation under this Section,
15 and shall not limit the access of detainees to such religious
16 workers without good cause. Such consultation periods shall be
17 distinct from religious services offered by the facility for
18 immigration detainees and from visits by religious workers to
19 individual detainees during the facility's regular visitation
20 hours. Consultations with religious workers under this Section
21 and any other visits to detainees by religious workers outside
22 such consultation periods shall not be counted against the
23 visitation time or number of visits to which a detainee is
24 otherwise entitled under the facility's visitation policies.
25     (c) The facility shall have the right to screen individuals
26 seeking access to immigration detainees at the facility under

 

 

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1 this Act to ensure that such individuals are in fact bona fide
2 clergy, members of religious orders, or lay volunteers
3 representing established and reputable religious institutions.
4 The facility shall seek to make available for consultation
5 religious workers of various faiths reflecting the range of
6 faiths within the facility's immigration detained population.
7 Such religious workers shall be encouraged but not required to
8 have obtained training in prison ministry from programs similar
9 to that provided by the Archdiocese of Chicago Kolbe House.
10     (d) The provisions of this Section shall apply to any
11 county jail established pursuant to this Act, regardless of
12 whether such jail is administered or operated by the county or
13 by private entities that have contracted with the county.".